Galaxy Note III with model number SM-N9006 pops up, could be international LTE-A variant

We’ve already received confirmation that there will three Galaxy Note III variants (with a list of which country gets which variant here), namely the SM-N900 (3G), SM-N9005 (LTE), and SM-N9002 (exclusive to China). However, a new Note III variant has now popped up on Picasa, sporting the model number SM-N9006 and running software version N9006ZCUAMG3. The EXIF data of the image reports a resolution of 4128 x 2322 pixels, which is equivalent to around 10-megapixel.

Now, it’s not hard to make out which variant we’re looking at here – the Galaxy S4 sporting LTE-Advanced connectivity had the model number GT-I9506 (compared to I9505 on the standard LTE variant), so putting two and two together makes it likely the SM-N9006 is the LTE-A model of the Galaxy Note III, powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor (though standard LTE models will also sport the same processor).

However, since the Snapdragon 800 already supports LTE-A connectivity, it’s odd why there need to be two variants running the same chipset when one would do equally well. It could be the data on the Picasa image has been faked, but we’ll try to get more info on this new variant from our sources nonetheless.